with Xanthe Gresham & Malcolm Green

The course will run from midday on Friday 29th to approximately 4pm on Sunday 30th August.  Participants should arrive from 10am on Friday in order to settle in and be ready for a 12pm start.

 

Course Leaders

Xanthe Gresham Knight is an international performance storyteller and author with a community herbalist qualification.  She was storyteller in residence for the Chelsea Physic Garden for 17 years. Other Residencies include, Harvard University, The Islamic Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, Blanton Museum Texas and Psychologies Magazine and Stoke and Staffordshire Libraries.  Her books include Goddesses and Heroines - Women of Myth and Legend; Herba Mythica - The Myths and Folktales of Sacred Healing Plants and Sussex Folktales for Children.  She was a core storyteller for the British Museum for 25 years, a senior Lecturer in storytelling and drama for the University of East London for 17 years and has performed at Gardens, Festivals, Museums and Theatres from America to New Zealand, Europe to Singapore, touring India and the UAE thanks to numerous commissions from the British Council.

 

Malcolm Green is both a naturalist and storyteller who has told stories professionally since 1982. His main interest is to integrate a more-than-human perspective into his storytelling, collaborating with archaeologists, scientists and musicians to create a tapestry of ecology, myth and personal experience. His aim is to beguile audiences away from the separate world of us and them to a sense of belonging. Malcolm has taught storytelling at numerous venues, including running regular programs at The International School of Storytelling and lecturing at Newcastle University. He has also worked in schools and colleges and, as manager of the Rising Sun Country Park, for many years, made storytelling central to the interpretation. He is a founder member of A Bit Crack Storytelling in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

The Ground of Story – Course Description

 

What is this for?

We are all aware that the way us humans are living on the earth at present is unsustainable.

How do we respond as individuals to this situation, when it feels as if we are all much too small to make any meaningful difference?

A first step might be to give ourselves a break from the prevailing mindset that is all around us. The mindset that says, the earth is a resource, that the clock is the only time, that things are separate, that humans are the only beings with consciousness.

To sit for a while with the notion that the earth is the origin of all creativity, that we are birthed from the genius of the earth and that it is our home.

Ok, that is a big ask for a workshop. What we can do, however, is to breathe out and make the space for each of us as individuals and as a group to experience the more-than-human world in a deeper way than we might normally. To really pay attention with all our senses to the trees, the herbs, the birds, the creatures and the ground itself.

To hear their stories both literally and metaphorically through myth and folklore. To notice how these stories and ours all tangle up with one another and are not separate.

To develop a practice whereby all our actions are informed by this place of knowing.

So, how will we do this?

• We will include some simple meditations

• We will notice what arises from paying attention to what is around us.

• We will work with the idea of reciprocity: i.e. offering something in return for what we receive.

• We will write and move and make.

• We will listen to and create stories.

• We will honour both our grief and our joy.

• We will hold questions without expecting concrete answers.

• We will look at the healing qualities of plants – both their remedies and stories.

• We will meditate on the deities of plants in mythology and how to internalise them to transform our inner world.

• We will create ceremony.

 

Venue

The Burnlaw Centre, Burnlaw, Whitfield, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 8HF

www.burnlaw.org

 

Burnlaw Centre is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run community arts and wellbeing space in the Allen Valleys, Northumberland. It is set within 40 acres of organic pastures, woodland and gardens in the North Pennine hills and is home for Malcolm, one of the course tutors. The Centre is built around a beautiful shared gathering space, with room to meet, cook, eat, and spend time together around a large, well-resourced kitchen.  The workshop space is large, light-filled and warm. It is used regularly for community events, workshops, conferences and retreats.

 

The community have created a really lovely and unvarnished place that they want to share.  The Centre is looked after by the residents of Burnlaw - an old Quaker farm, it is home to a multi-generational group of households. the small, loose knit community is informed by co-operative values, environmental consciousness and a broad and welcoming spirituality. A warm and loving welcome is extended for all the people who go there, providing opportunities for people to explore their creativity and spirituality and connect with nature in ways which can be profound and transforming. Events, gatherings and projects that take place at Burnlaw therefore become a little bit part of the community for their duration.

 

Burnlaw is the perfect venue for ‘The Ground of Story’ and Malcolm and Xanthe look forward to welcoming you there.

 

Visit www.burnlaw.org for more information about the venue.

 

Food

The course will be catered for by a local professional cook. All food will be vegetarian with dietary options available. Special diets can be catered for providing we are aware of these needs in advance.

 

Accommodation

Accommodation at the Burnlaw Centre is in shared bunk houses and bedrooms and must be paid for in addition to the course fee. There is also a camping and activities field.

 

Shared bunk room (with bedding provided) £26 per night, £52 for the two nights

Camping is £18 per night, £36 for the two nights.

 

Toilets and hot showers are available for camping/bunkhouses. The camping field also has a compost toilet. 

 

For those who would like less basic accommodation, there are contacts below for accommodation in the nearby area. It would be good to book this as soon as possible.

 

Accommodation near Burnlaw 

There are a wide range of local B & B’s. Here are a few reliable suggestions:

Linda Kent, Burnlaw: 07400572821: a basic cabin within the community.

Thornley House B&B, Thornley Gate: 7 mins drive 01434 683255

Elks Head Pub, Whitfield: 5 mins drive or a mile walk: 01434345282

High Keenley Farm 5 mins drive or a mile walk :01434 618344

 

Course Fee

Cost for participants is at a sliding rate of £275-£375 which includes all meals but excludes accommodation. Information about accommodation is below. The sliding scale allows for people of different financial circumstances, if you can afford to pay more, then you will be helping someone with less.  A deposit of £50 is required in order to secure your place. The deposit is non-refundable except in the circumstances of not enough applications for the course to be viable, in which case, it will be refunded in full. The balance is payable by 29th July.

 

Cancellations will be accepted up to one month in advance of the course date and in circumstances outside your control. We will try to be as flexible as possible so please get in touch if you have any doubt about your ability to attend after you have paid.

 

Payments should be made to Cooperative Bank, Ms T E Collins, 08-93-00 13173393. Please include your name as a reference on the bank payment and email tracey@wildaboutstory.co.uk when you have made the transfer so that I can confirm receipt of the payment.

 

Transport

As bookings are confirmed, I will build a picture of who might like to share transport, and I will put people in touch with each other.

 

Getting to Burnlaw by public transport

Train to Hexham and organise a lift to Burnlaw (23 min drive)

Train to Hexham and a bus to Allendale no. 688, (every 2 hours roughly) takes 26 mins, organise a lift to Burnlaw (7 mins).

Taxi (ecocabs) 01434 600600 from Hexham Station to Burnlaw, aprox £30.

If a number of participant choose to come by train, we will organise a single pick up from Hexham Station at a chosen time.

 

 

What to Bring

Bedding (for campers, bunk beds come with bedding), torch, writing materials, boots, water proof clothing, outdoor sit mat.

 

This information can be found on my website www.wildaboutstory.co.uk

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch by email on tracey@wildaboutstory.co.uk

 

Warm Wishes

Tracey Collins on behalf of Xanthe & Malcolm